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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-- Mark Twain

SS Sapona

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19

We had no control of the boat , John and I quickly dropped anchor after I cut the engine . We had drifted next to the reef but didn't hit it , The design of the Trimaran had saved us again . The waves that night were a light chop, wind light and variable our dumb luck had saved us again, we had a good laugh and proceeded to get the spare tiller out of the hatch. The guy we had bought the boat from had planned to do the very same thing ;(Sail the Bahamas) but a Wedding ring cut of his circulation, Dam ring is more dangerous than a Hammerhead , thanks Robert for the spare tiller ! Luckily we had a full moon and a candle so I could work on the tiller. With the sound of the waves crashing on the reef 20ft away we made repairs , the cable was rigged to hold the old tiller strait and the back-up tiller was dropped in place . After determining our position we realized that we had sailed 70 miles over the "Banks" and landed about a mile from Cat Cay using only a compass the size of a baseball . We then came up with the plan , motor around the reef and drop anchor near the shore of South Cat Cay. ,also our plans had changed for safety reasons instead of leaving at first light we would carefully go over the boat all day, even scrape barnacles and make sure it was seaworthy and good/safe condition for the Crossing. Crossing is short for crossing the Gulf Stream, usually the most dangerous and difficult part of a Bahamas cruise . When ever sailors meet up in Bahamian ports they question each other about it, from where did you depart ? where did you land ? how many hours ? sea condition and so on , the 5-7 knot South to North drift of the Gulf Steam is your biggest variable We slept late , the sun was already up I started checking the boat, John and Mary went ashore to explore , beach comb and look for cigarette butts, After a while I noticed them quickly returning to the boat , when they got aboard , they explained that we had stumbled on to drug runners ! With out pointing they showed me where to look, I could see a guy in the tree line , he was standing next to what looked like a car sized cache under a tarpaulin , the guy was pacing back and forth nervously, this would be a good time to (act normal) and slowly pull up anchor and leave the area ! We would have to go a little more North than preferred , the idea was hit Florida as far south as possible , I did not know of any safe channels North of Government Cut ( where the Cruise ships leave) If we missed Government Cut we might end up in Ft. Lauderdale. We motored up to Gun Cay and anchored 200 yds from the SS Sapona (a cement ship that wrecked in a 1926 Hurricane , also of the famous Flt 19 of Bermuda Triangle lore) . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sapona Oh I remember Flt 19 the planes that made a practice bombing run on the SS Sapona then headed for Florida and were never seen again , how reassuring ! No joy on the boat that night ;out of cigarettes, vodka and with drug runners in the area and deciding to not clear customs , dinner that night was Spam white rice and warm water. Sleep was impossible , I would sit on deck in the full moon and stare at the ghostly image of the shipwreck and wondered if our luck would hold 24 more hours . The next morning it was all business with very little conversation we were underway before sun up, (all wearing life preservers) the heading was Southwest as long as possible , by late morning the deep 6-8 ft. swells forced us on a more Western tracking . If the sea condition stayed as is we would hit Florida late afternoon but where ? We rode the deep swells all day safely with out incident and no hint of trouble in the sky, late in the day conversation is always "shouldn't we be seeing land ?" That's the most anxious time of the trip, and the first sight of land is a big relief, and every one's spirits are lifted , the next topic is speculating on landmarks as the land slowly develops and takes shape. We spotted land late in the day everyone started to relax and joke about food. The best case scenario was find Key Biscayne and take the channel near " Stilts-ville" . What appeared to be Key Biscayne light house was quickly to our South, the Gulf stream was hot that day likely a 7 knot Northerly flow ,and the swells did not allow coarse correction. However an hour later we were a mile off Government Cut , the seas allowed us a head strait for it at full speed we motored towards the Cut , no choice but to burn precious fuel, just when it seemed we might make it..... a Cruise Ship came out of the Cut forcing us North.. I only knew of Haulover inlet and a fixed bridge over the inlet , would it permit a sailboat mast ? we had no choice but to go and see. The entrance to Haulover inlet is very rough , we quickly determined the fixed bridge would not allow us, and made a turn in high sea swells , a real low point , no choice but motor back to Government Cut. It was now dark off the coast of Miami Beach motoring full throttle with no running lights in heavy boat traffic we prayed a power boat would not slam into us. Low on gas we would make Government Cut or die trying , full speed ahead ! when we rounded the jetty to the "Cut" the water was like glass the city lights shown brightly, We made it ! Slowly motoring South towards Coconut Grove, we looked up at the condominiums and talked how great it would be to have "Creature Comforts".. TV, refrigeration, hot showers , cold beer and pizza, Well some day maybe. We were called many derogatory things in those days "The boat people" is one of the few I can print, we had a different lifestyle, is different wrong ? for many months before and after today, we had taken a road less traveled ................ The End I have to get back to farming now, maybe next summer I'll bore ya with some more old stories

Sunday, May 27, 2012

After meeting Mr. Stubbs our morale was at an all time low , That nights dinner was only white rice and warm water. The next morning at sunrise Mr. Stubbs was at my stern unloading the motor , I told him it might be a couple days before we could depart for Chub I was waiting on a check in the mail, and could he help me out with $15-$20, ? He finished loading the motor and started his outboard and drove away.. Completely ignoring me .. In a strange way it helped us , we were all now very focused , and more determined than ever , We now wanted to leave the Bahamas.. On the walk to to post office we discussed options plan B and C both involved committing felonies in a foreign country . We arrived at the post office........... no letter, and tomorrow was Saturday and Monday was a holiday . The only thing I can tell you was plan C was to sell Mr. Stubbs outboard ,We settled on plan B , even 29 years later Its not in my best interest to give exact details; So Lets "fast forward" and skip the details of committing a felony in a foreign country shall we, to having small fortune $100 !! Priority was Gas, water , vodka, cigarettes , beer and food and more Vodka. We bought and carried every thing to save money on cab fare. our meager supplies would leave no room for error , 8 hours to Chub Cay and overnight, 12 hours to South Cat Cay and overnight 10-11 hour to Miami Hopefully land in Coconut Grove and hit Monty Trainer ( my old boss) for Money . We left the next morning at day break , As we motored towards the Harbor entrance we saw a dinghy floating, I was temped to grab it . I cut the engine and drifted up next to it its was a expensive custom made with a brass name plate, likely from a Luxury Yacht. Circling under the dinghy was a Hammerhead Shark as big as a car, its an image I'll never forget , at the time I wondered if it was an bad omen, but I said nothing . As we passed the light house and out past the breakwater it would be choppy & bumpy ride "Mary grab me a cold one" at sun up we drank a toast or two to a safe trip , The sail up to Chub was wet with sea spray, but quick because the boat was significantly lighter due to no supplies or equipment,when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.. we arrived at Chub early afternoon. We went right in the anchorage and right up to DD's boat . He was very grateful and could not thank us enough . He invited us to dinner . That night we ate on his boat, I could see he was out of supplies but he had fresh fish and Rum. We did not ask for money as it was obvious he had nothing . The next Morning before sunrise we motored out of the anchorage , this would be our longest leg of the trip. 70 miles over the Great Bahama Banks, "The Banks" are famous for boat wrecks , the average depth is 15-18 ft and huge coral heads of unknown depth are every where, when a storm blows up the waves get huge because of the shallow water , sailboats that draw 6 ft or more are at risk . We made great time with the wind at our back I throttled down to save fuel , by early afternoon we all were optimistic about making it to the Bimini chain. By late afternoon its normal for the wind to drop as it did on that day ,we estimated we were on coarse as "The Banks"don't have not much current . By sundown the wind was very light , we could not see land, no problem in an hour it would be at dark, we would no doubt see a light house or radio tower, we stayed on coarse and motored at slow speed , after a few hours we saw a bright light and determined it was small light house we headed strait for it . We were all uneasy about it, John started reading the Bahama Guide by candlelight , we determined it was a light marking a reef , and the instructions in the guide were to go North , it marked a dangerous reef and shallow water , however we were already too close ,under the bright light and full moon we could see white water, that's when the cable from the steering wheel to tiller broke. we lost control ...to be continued ..... ( The letter was "Returned to Sender", it had fallen behind a table at the post office and found 90 days later)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

We Motored past the two boats and waved , DD waved but the 2 man crew of the Defense Force just stared , we anchored and tried to ignore the men. After they left DD came over , He knew both policeman from Nassau and had given them some fish and conch. He explained the “Mantra” of the Bahamas ,( Tourists and Tourism is the most important thing, don’t scare away the tourists !! ). You can sell weed to tourists; some times its the highlight of their trip. But don’t hang around tourist Hotel’s and Clubs and get drunk, fight and other wise scare them ! Reggie’s crime was not selling weed but scaring the tourist . His sentence was leave Chub Cay ASAP . We had little choice but to scrounge up $100 and head back to Miami . But first we had to find $3 for a phone call . There was only 1 phone on the Island, at the Hotel front desk $3 dollars for 3 minutes . We went back to the boat and went through every cabinet , every floor board, pants and coat pocket and came up with the 3 bucks all in pennies and a few nickels . Who would we call ? Mary said she could call her father ask for the $100. she had recently had a birthday . We decided to have it mailed General Delivery Nassau Bahamas . So we went to the Hotel to place to call, we started to count out the money , when the Clerk found out we needed money to leave the Bahamas she said “ just call I’ll count the money later “ Mary placed the call and it was set !! We would have the money in 5-7 days with some luck . That afternoon We sat around drinking with DD on his boat with his 2 crew members Red & Grease. After while we went to the pier to look at the fish from the tournament. A pile of sailfish lay on the pier rotting in the sun , I asked DD “what do they do with the fish” he said they go to Nassau prison to feed inmates . The Men in the tournament could care less they where smoking cigars and drinking scotch in the club. That's when I reached down picked up a 70 Lbs fish and just walked away like I owned Chub Cay , at least we would eat well tonight . We cut up half for dinner and salted and dried the rest. That night DD asked us if while in Nassau we would pick up an out board motor from his father and bring it back, his motor was on life support ,we agreed as we would have to pass through Chub anyway. We killed the next couple days beach combing and diving for Helmet Conch to sell to tourists, I was starting perfect the art of baking bread in a Dutch Oven , that was helpful because our diet was Grits some conch and warm water. At night we would fantasize about food, everyone would take turns describing their dream meal .
Then we left for Nassau , the weather was great, fare wind , warm but no humidity, also we were seeing lots of sea life , Bottle nosed Dolphin and Turtles . By late afternoon we spotted Lifers Cay , soon we would see the entrance to Nassau Harbor. One of the nicest days so far, A day sail just to check the mail . we were all strangely at peace with the world . (No money no problems) We would anchor off the beach near the harbor entrance it was near a gas station , liquor store and small food market , the only draw back was the post office was a 3 mile walk . With luck we could make it by 5 pm , we arrived at the post office at 4:50 went to the window and asked about the letter . The teller came back with bad news, no letter, we asked please check again , she could see we were desperate , she looked again. I'm sorry no letter...... it was 5 pm we had to leave . One hope, Find DD's father ; Antonio Stubbs was a fisherman that tied up under the bridge to Paradise Island , a 2 mile walk. We found him without to much trouble , he agreed to deliver the motor tomorrow to our boat, I explained our situation and asked him for money, he ignored me and walked away.. this journey was beginning to sound like a Country Song, lucky I didn't have a dog... . to be continued ..

Monday, May 21, 2012

Bahamian Defence force boats , the older boats were smaller, 2 man crew , like any police never around when you need them , only when you don't

With no refrigeration a cold beer was a real luxury

The day that had started out as a disaster , was beginning to shape up ! I was working a nice beer buzz and the sun was coming out . Mary however seemed annoyed , and she asked me if I was about to do something stupid, I told her we were out of food , water and money we had sold or lost everything of value , and the only thing we had left was a deep well of stupidity , so I was going to use our only resource ! and to "get me another beer", she said "get it yourself " and walked away.. The luxurious fishing yachts had already started to arrive . The Calypso band was setting up steel drums and the wait staff from the private club was skirting tables and setting up chaffing dishes for the fishing tournament party . Well time to find my cleanest dirty clothes, I made my way back to the boat and told Mary about the "free buffet and open bar" she seemed to warm up a little. We would wait till the party got going and people were liquored up and friendlier , and walk in like honored guests and hit the buffet and bar. Soon it was dark we could hear the band playing and we could smell the food, we determined the party was in full swing ! We made our way over and hit the buffet , I tried to eat slow but I was starving, some of the band and staff knew we were crashing, but said nothing . We had not eaten this well since we crashed Club Med on Nassau ( another story for another day) . fish , steak, shrimp, rice, potatoes , salad and desert !! I asked Mary if she still thought this was a stupid idea, she smiled and said; "I'm going to the bar how many beers do you want", I said; "as many as you can carry" ! Soon everyone was hammered , one big happy family ! Yachtsmen, Bahamian fisherman, tourists and locals . Reggie had managed to slip in and join the party . But there was trouble brewing , The Club manager approached him and asked him to leave , after a heated exchange Reggie quickly left , We stayed till the party ended , I was hammered but had the presence of mind to grab a few to go boxes of food and cold ones for breakfast . The next morning . Reggie's boat was gone , maybe he left ? Mary was relived she wanted nothing to do with selling weed. We had breakfast and were chill'in on the boat when we spotted Reggie's boat coming back in , after he anchored we went over to see him , he said the Club manager called the police ,( on a small Cay that happens to be the Bahamian Defence Force) he took the boat out and dumped all his weed .( he had no Sense) .He said the weather was improving and he needed to fill his boat with fish and conch and head back to Nassau , he asked us If we would crew on his boat, his only crew member "Basil" had jumped ship, from not being paid. I said "sure what do we have to do" ? He said we have to dive conch and catch fish. " great lets do it ". By now , we had to head back to Miami, and we needed a minimum of $100 for Gas and supplies , it didn't mater where the money came from came , Conch or weed. And so we headed out to dive conch and set fish traps all afternoon , it was fun , we were free diving in about 18-20 ft of water and had to take breaks because of the cold water , Reggie had a bottle of Brandy, to warm up we would take a swallow or two . Mary Had a spiritual awakening and realized the her calling in life was to be a Conch diver . By late afternoon we had gathered a respectable pile of conch, and a few grey snappers, We would probably not get rich doing this but at least we could add fish and conch to our diet of; white rice and grits. We headed back to the anchorage, about a mile , a few 100 yards out we could see a Bahamian Defence force boat tied up along side of DD's boat " "oh shit" .......... to be continue

Saturday, May 19, 2012

For years Chub hosted many fishing tournaments , this is before catch and release , they would fish all day and leave the fish to rot on the pier and drink scotch all night .

Chub Cay

Chub Cay Marina , we anchored in the creek between Chub and Crab Cay

Fishing Boats like this are all over the Bahamas they have a live fish well and and open flame cook stove on deck, they are similar to Reggie and DD's boats

The sun was finally coming up but the storm was not letting up, we jumped off the boat and swam ashore . we needed a break so many hours aboard the boat. We decided to walk to the Commissary and get a beer and wait for the storm to subside . the boat was listing badly but we figured the design of the Trimaran could withstand 1 of 3 hulls flooded . We must have looked and smelled like hell, this added to our well cultivated image of being " The trailer park trash of the 7 seas" . I walked in to the Commissary and grabbed a 6 pack. That's when the cashier likely speaking for all 29 Islands and 661 Cays of the Bahamas said " Oh no, your back again" when are you leaving "?? This would be our 3 visit to Chub Cay and on a very small Island we had managed to make quite a nuisance of our selves.. Yeah its good to be back , we took our breakfast and sat down on the picnic table . There was a buzz on the Island , everyone was talking about the plane crash last night .. I asked around and apparently a plane had taken off in the storm last night and crashed in the Ocean a mile or so directly south of the Island . We started to speculate, why would any pilot take off in that storm ? what was so important to fly in those weather conditions ?? "Are you thinking what I'm thinking said John ?" Yeah maybe we'll get lucky and some "cargo" will float ashore. By the time we got back to the boat it was nearly sunk , we quickly boarded and started bailing water , we used our 5 gallon porta pottie bucket and a hand pump after about 30 minutes the boat was sea worthy we could head for the anchorage . I was straining to pull up the anchor it was buried in the sand , that's when I noticed debris from the plane was making its way to the beach ! We had to make for the anchorage we would come back later and beach comb for "Cargo".. The enterance to the anchorage is shallow and pretty much closed at low tide to sail boats , we bumped the bottom coming in ( I hate that sound) but made it . After we Anchored and pumped out the boat to safe level, we headed back to the beach, plane debris had littered the beach seat belts,seat cushions and some pieces of the interior . That's when I saw a brief case 50 ft out floating towards us. We all got excited no doubt it was full of drug money !! I swam out to get it , crap it was the pilots flight bag ...only maps, compass and empty sunglasses case . That's when we noticed 2 things more debris floating towards the beach (suitcases)!!! And........ a boat heading our way, that looked suspiciously like the fishing boat from Big and little Whale Cay. Well it was really no choice at all , we dropped everything and walked back into the trees and back to the Commissary. already low on money and supplies , we had to at least start talking about the unthinkable ....heading back to Miami and getting a job .. That's when we spotted Reggie and DD, 2 local fisherman/conch divers from Nassau. DD was giving Reggie hell because Reggie was just getting drunk and neither of them had caught any fish or Conch. Reggie was sitting drunk on the picnic benches , As they saw us approach DD had a last word and left. Reggie told us he had just been partying and not fishing due to bad weather , he had been banned from the Commissary and Fishing Club for being drunk and fighting. He also asked us for help, There was a fishing tournament starting tomorrow and tonight would be a big party for the fisherman, he was banned from the Club , could we help him sell some weed ? I told him my throat was a little dry and if he gave me $10 dollars for beer I would be able to discuss bid-ness ...... to be continued ...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

I remember a cartoon from the 1960's called "Tooter Turtle" the premise was , Mr. Wizard would send Tooter on adventure, he would get in serious trouble and Tooter would scream " Help me Mr Wizard "

Chub Cay in the Southern Berry Islands , we anchored off the beach on the top right side of the photo

A beautiful sand beach about a mile long

vote today

I have done many stupid and dangerous things in my life ( and my life ain't over yet ) But I have never been as scared as I was that morning seeing an army of armed men 100 ft away. I could not breath or speak, I finally asked Mary " what the hell are we gonna do " she said " act normal" act normal ! how in the hell can I act normal ? Mary handed me a Bimini breakfast (a strong rum and coffee) I downed it and said "give me another and this time put some rum in it" after my second cup my nerves were slightly better. I asked her what to do, she said act normal "go out and wave at them "!! I finally overcame my paralysis , I went out on deck and stretched turned around and waved at the men . No one returned my wave .. We had a conference below deck on what to do ; we agreed that if they wanted us dead , we would already be so, Our plan was to casually go up on deck pull up anchor and slowly leave the area, and ignore the Men.. We went up on deck and slowly went through the motions , it felt like a dream when your feet won't move , no one so much as looked in their direction let alone made eye contact. We motored away we didn't look back , we came around the end of Big whale and out of site , we all exhaled I was holding my breath for 10 minutes waiting to get shot !! Omfg I can't take to much more of this .. get me another drink !! We had left Florida in February and many days and nights had been wet and cold , however today was shaping up to be a hot sunny day.. As we motored away the same conversation came up again who were they ? Drug Runners , Bahamian Defence force or both ?. We had learned possibly the most important lesson; who ever it was, what ever they were doing , see no evil , hear no evil , speak no evil , just ignore them and quietly leave the area.. Big Whale Cay had a small air strip, we decided if possible stay away from small air strips. We had left Florida armed with 3 pistols and an M1 Carbine and plenty of ammo in case of pirates or drug runners , and now they seemed like more of a liability, what ever was going on, we were out of our league.. minnows among sharks. The sail up to Chub was great by the time we got there the sea was like a mill pond and not a cloud in the sky. We anchored on the south side by a nice long beach, opened up the hatches to dry out the boat , wet clothes and bedding. We sat there all day drinking and laughing this certainly was an interesting trip, today was one of the nicest days so far. We decided to stay the night there and move to the anchorage the next day. I passed out around sunset. We had all sold our watches in Nassau so I don't know the time, but I woke to find us in a terrible storm ! and we had anchored too close to shore, the rip current was holding the boat sideways , a position you never want to be in.. The waves were around 4-5 ft and they were breaking over the boat , along with heavy rain our leaky hatches were taking on water . There was no chance to make for the safety of the harbor we would have to ride out the storm again, when would I ever learn . We had also left clothes and equipment on deck, mask , fins and spear poles ..all gone .. Again I found my self praying for daylight as the boat continued taking on water after a few hours the boat had a dramatic and dangerous list ! Help me Mr Wizard ! ...... to be continued ....

We motored to and tied up at the Pier , I looked at John he certainly looked sick , I looked at Mary she seemed composed . The leader motioned me off and went below deck and began searching the boat , he did not ask for ID,registration or a Customs Declaration The Cabin was small , visible to him would have been a Coleman camping stove,water jugs, dirty cloths and limited food stores and a 19 year old kid who looked sick.. It was about that time I sensed the men relax somewhat , our story might just be plausible and we did not seem like a threat , the boat didn't even have a radio, The man asked "where we were going", I told him Hatchet Bay Eleuthera , he asked me again Where we were heading, I said Eleuthera, I did ask if he would sell us gasoline . His shook his head and said Go to Eleuthera and don't come back. You did not have to tell me twice , Mary quickly boarded and the outboard started on the first pull ! we cast off and motored away, I did not look back . As we motored around the South end of the Island no one spoke and no one looked back , I set a coarse for Nassau . Mary finally spoke " where are we going, I said "Nassau", she said "that works for me" Thankful we had our Jib sail repaired in Bimini and with a 15 knot wind at our back , We had a shot to make Nassau by sunset. As Normans Cay faded in the distance we finally had time to reflect on what just happened . Were they drug runners or Bahamian Defence Force or both ? With so much money involved were there good guys and bad guys ?, or just people doing business ?... OMFG I need a drink ! Mary handed me the bottle of rum after a long pull on the bottle I told John to get rid of the booty, all of it he said? he wanted to keep some of the Beatles Albums and I needed to keep the boots we had "salvaged" from the Island . John pulled the items from under his death bunk, also hidden under the bunk our 4 guns including an M1 Carbine. We decided to keep some of the booty with the understanding if we were ever approached it went overboard.. Over the next 7 hours we had plenty of time to speculate on just what the hell happened . We made good time sailing North and made it Nassau Harbor at sundown, motoring up the channel we got our typical greeting "turn on your running lights you fucking idiot" yelled another boater, it felt good to be back in civilization ! Back in Nassau our plan was to sell some possessions , pick up supplies and head back to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands. We set about selling some possessions and realized the mere mention of Normans Cay got every ones attention and respect. One guy was listening to our story his nickname was "The God Father" I asked him for a dollar to buy a beer he gave me $20 !! and he wanted to know every detail of our misadventure as long as he was buying Heavenly Ice Cold Becks Beer I could talk all night ! We scrounged up a small fortune $53 dollars ! got some supplies and headed north the next morning Chub Cay was a day sail if the wind held up , around 1 pm we realized due to a wind change we would have to anchor between Big and Little Whale Cay. It was also about that time we noticed a small aircraft was circling us , what looked to be a Cessna 150 , the plane was at around 500 ft after a few passes it made a low pass at our stern , we guessed he wanted to see the name of the boat .. a definite "oh shit" moment . According to the "Bahamas Cruising Guide" Little Whale Cay was a privately owned Island that the owner had a vast collection of rare birds , Golden pheasants, peacocks and chickens. We anchored and ate dinner ; white rice and Spam , around sunset someone arrived at Little Whale Cay in a Cigarette style boat , they stood on the pier and looked at us for about 5 minutes , they didn't seem that they were thrilled about us being there . We sat about 200 yards from them, 2 men went inside and the third man went about doing a meticulous perimeter check , I don't know if he was looking for foot prints , or what. With no power and no city lights and no moonlight , it was again a dark and uneasy night with the aid of Cheap Vodka I found sleep. Awake at Daybreak I looked out the hatch to check the weather. At some point during the night a large fishing boat had slipped in and anchored next to us . on board the boat was a dozen para-military style men all armed with assault rifles ... to be continued

Saturday, May 12, 2012

It was on our short visit , the first time I thought about Farming for a living as I was not really suited for cruising the Bahamas

In Front of us were 4 large men in para military dress, the looks on their faces were of shocked disbelief and anger, they were armed with M16 Assault Rifles. One of the men who seemed to be the leader spoke , "who are you? where did you come from ? he commanded . We were in no position to do anything except comply, I started to make up a story ( a useful skill I had acquired) "We had just arrived that morning , our out board motor had quit on the way to Eleuthera possibly water in the Gas" I said. The man took us out side and told us to wait as he covered us with the rifle , I could hear the others in side talking , getting ready and checking their weapons .

The Airplane in Normans Cay Harbor , where we Drank a toast to our good fortune ! Notice the Hammerhead Sharks !

A few weeks ago a Charter boat Captain had given us a "Bahamas Cruising Guide" from 1979 , he explained there are very few marked channels in the Bahamas and" this Guide is how everyone navigates". The Guide also has gives helpful advice on where to anchor and few few paragraphs about each Island and Cay.... Under the Chapter about Normans Cay it describes a "Tropical Paradise" . Maybe these men were taking us there ? or maybe we were about to get shot !! On the walk to the beach 4 armed men followed Mary and I , They did not Identify themselves and we were in no position to make demands . The Leader asked me my story over and over, "where are you going" , "who is with you", where is your boat?" he commanded ..All the men were on high alert , they were cautious and guarded We arrived at the beach our boat was anchored about 150 ft of shore . I told them we had lost our dinghy and we had swam ashore. The leader told me to fetch the boat and bring it to the Pier , I asked his permission to swim out to the boat and he nodded . (The Bahamas Guide also failed to mention That Normans Cay is also world famous for mating Hammerhead Sharks) , but at the time the water was comforting ,( Being eaten by a Hammerhead Shark might have been an upgrade given our circumstances !) I made my way to the boat only to see John as white as a sheet, he was watching us through the port hole , he didn't seem too reassured when I said; " I got this ". On deck now I turned the outboard motor to the "off" position and attempted to "start it", with my back to the Men on shore I told John our official story , and informed him that HE had food poisoning and get in the bunk and fake it ! His response was he was about to puke anyway ! "Exactly" I said............. I kept pulling the outboards cord. When we were both somewhat collected , I switched the outboard to on , and my next pull the motor came to life ! I waved to my new best friends on the beach and motored towards the pier ., I prayed silently . to be continued

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

(continued from; "God looks out for Fools, Drunks and Children" The morning of the crossing was the first time I understood the advantages of the Trimaran design. The "draft" (boat below the waterline) on multi hulls like Catamarans and Trimarans is much less than Mono hull boats, giving it advantages is shallow water. Our Boat had a draft of about 2 1/2 ft and on that morning we made it safely over the reef ! . We anchored in calm water right off a beautiful beach and then the sun came out . It was so much to process, for the last 11 hours , we were filled with fear and uncertainty. Now we had just Anchored in Paradise .. In the next week or so we sailed up and down the Bimini chain( Gun Cay, Cat Cay and South Bimini ) before heading to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands , and then into Nassau, form Nassau down to the Exuma chain. We would spend a week or 2 exploring in each area and move on ...
Norman's Cay is a small island in the Bahamas--210 miles off the Florida coast. For four years it was a drug smuggling hub and tropical hideaway for Medellin cartel kingpin Carlos Lehder and associates. Lehder arrived there in 1978 and started buying up large pieces of property, including a home for himself, a hotel and an airstrip. With his arrival, the locals noticed a marked increase in airplane traffic on the island's tiny airstrip, as well as armed guards patrolling the beaches.

In July 1980, a yacht belonging to a retired Fort Meyers couple was found drifting with a corpse and blood stains on board near Norman's Cay. Eventually Lehder harassed the island's residents and visitors until they fled, while Bahamian Prime Minister Lynden Pindling, who investigators believe had accepted Lehder's bribes, did nothing to stop him. He in effect took over the entire island. We knew there was drug smuggling in the Bahamas, but we had no idea what was going on at Normans Cay. Its early spring 1983 The free anchorage at Highborne Cay Exuma is small and crowded, its advised that boaters use Bow and Stern anchors to maintain their position in the harbor, there isn't room for the boats to swing with the tides . It was this type of Crowd we liked to avoid . The Bahamas is made up of 29 Islands and 661 Cays, once you get in a chain like the Berry Islands or Exumas you can see the nearby Islands and reach them in a few hours. Time to go exploring again we set sail for Normans Cay ! The sail to Normans Cay was easy and relaxing , nice weather fair winds, we were paralleling the coast looking for a safe anchor, we saw many houses but strangely no people , we passed 5 or 6 houses no sign of life. We decided that they were likely vacation homes looked after by a care taker ( very common the the Islands) . We came around the point and saw what looked like a restaurant but no sign of life. Up ahead was a harbor and right in the middle was a large 1/2 submerged aircraft , what I thought was a DC 3.. how cool ! And the best part no other boats , we anchored and quickly swam out to the Plane , It looked as if it had been there no more than 3 months we climbed all over it in side and out. We had a bottle rum and toasted our good fortune ! We made our way to a pier and tied up , the Pier and Marina empty, by the time we looked around the restaurant we decided that Normans Cay it must have been a resort that had gone bankrupt. This was a real adventure we walked down the street, a laundromat empty, cottages empty, we made our way to a nice house overlooking the bay. " Any one home" we announced as we knocked on the door . no answer . We went inside the house , it looked as if someone had searched it , items scattered on the floor I remember seeing rock and roll albums LPs, all over the floor. The power had been cut off I opened up the frig and the food had not yet spoiled, the eggs were still good , the evidence suggested that all Island residents had left quickly 3-4 weeks ago.. That night on the boat there was many questions and no answers, a very dark moonless night our mood was uneasy . The next morning at daylight Mary and I walked right up the street , we had decided to find someone and get answers . About 1/4 mile up the road we saw a house on stilts with lights on, as we got closer we could hear voices , We walked right up and knocked on the door. The voices went silent , I could hear several people shuffling about the door swung open , inside was 1 man standing at the door and 3 men eating breakfast , all were armed with Assault Rifles ! to be continued ........

Thursday, May 3, 2012

When I hear stories about " The Bermuda Triangle " I just laugh. I can't tell you how many ship wrecks , plane wrecks , accidents we saw , and there was nothing "Supernatural" about it.

I have on occasion told this story but never from a position that I performed some sort of heroic act. Quite the contrary, I had negligently put 3 people in grave danger and now my younger brother had fallen overboard at night in the middle of a storm he was not wearing a life preserver “John fell overboard” screamed Mary, the urgency in her voice woke me from my state of shocked disbelief . I don’t remember being scared , I remember being focused and determined to turn the boat and find him. I gunned the out board motor to full power and the boat nearly foundered in the large swells as she made the 180 degree turn. Scanning the dark sea ahead a beam of light caught my eye, incredibly John had managed to hang on to our only flashlight , the cheap K-mart beam was barley visible in the high seas 150 ft dead ahead. I steered strait for it and throttled down as the boat neared the location. I had a sort of tunnel vision not seeing , hearing or thinking anything, just reacting . Making my way to the bow I looked down to see John struggling in his heavy winter clothes to tread water , with one hand I reached down and pulled him aboard . I don’t know who was happier him or me, but he was now on board, but not safe as our situation had not improved . There was little time reflect on what had just happened with 8 hours till daylight and miles of open sea to navigate . John striped off the wet clothes and got in the bunk, he was very quiet, It did cross my mind that he might be in Shock, I also noticed for the first time we were taking on water ! We got back on coarse and we seemed to make progress over the next couple hours, the weather was bad, I would compare it to being a top a tall building " don't look down", I focused on the compass heading and not the 12 ft seas or the rising water in the cabin, now and then a large wave would break over the deck, and the sea spray was a constant , we were heading due East at 7 knots. The first sign of hope was a red blinking light dead ahead , we determined it was likely a Radio tower on Bimini or a near by Island. A quick check of my watch revealed, I could at least pray for day light as it was around 5am I don’t ever remember wondering if we would make it, my focus was to just stay on coarse . The rough seas afforded no opportunity to make coffee so warm Old Milwaukee beer would have to do as I chain smoked Marlboro's . The good news was it was daybreak and we could see lights and make out the shape of Land!! The bad news was we had no idea where the safe harbor was on this land mass , 29 years later I can still picture the Island of North Bimini and the huge swells under the overcast grey sunrise. An area ahead looked like it might possibly be the entrance to an inlet or harbor , but at around ½ mile off shore I could see white water, waves breaking on a reef and no channel markers . It seemed a cruel irony that we could come all this way only to end up ship wrecked on a reef 100 yards form shore . We had no choice but to turn North and look for safe harbor, as we reached the North end we could see calm water and a beach, making the starboard turn we were now committed , being that close to land I realized for the first time how fast the boat moved . It was at that time I also determined that we had sailed right onto a reef, the water so clear in was impossible to determine how much water was between us and the sharp coral , I held my breath and waited for the sound of the boat crashing on the reef.... ( to be continued